After leaving the Taj, we went to the hotel for some breakfast. That was a good break. We had spent about 2.5 hours at the Taj which seemed like long enough.
After breakfast Vinod took us and PC to the Fatehpur Sikri which is about 26 km outside of Agra. The drive was as adventuresome as all drives in India, abounded by near misses and extraordinary sights. We saw many of the followers of Shiva outside of a temple. We saw large groups of women being hauled around in big metal wagons pulled by tractors.
We saw a group of women walking down the road in very colorful saris. Vinod slowed so that we could snap a photo out of the window. As I leaned out to take the photo, young children began to run at breakneck speed towards the van, smiling and cheering. Vinod pulled off and I snapped a photo that will probably win a pulitzer.
The children of India literally capture your heart and lock it away with a key. The innocence, the sweetness, the joy, the pure joy that they have is something that someone from America may not be used to in our 'me, me, me, give me more' society. These kids don't have Facebook or xbox or boats or cars or tv's or maybe even enough food or water and yet they are truly self-actualized in a way that is rare in our society for children or adults.
The Fatehpur Sikri is a sandstone structure built by the mughals on top of a rare hill in the flat plains surrounding Agra. It contains dwelling places and a mosque. There are four and five story buildings constructed pagoda style. There is a parchesi board life size upon which the king would have subjects attired for the various pieces and moved upon his command.
I forgot to mention that when we pulled up to th FS, our guide made a deal with the gate keeper so that our driver could drive us right to the front and let us out instead of us having to walk six hundred yards. Another benefit of having a guide.
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